The Animal

The very notion that Rob Schneider has what it takes to carry a movie is probably the funniest thing about The Animal, another sloppy comedy produced by his buddy Adam Sandler. The plot: Schneider drives off a cliff in the first reel and a mad scientist saves his life with an animal part transplant. When he comes to, our hero can run like a horse, swim like a dolphin and smell and hear like a dog. Of course, he also has uncontrollable urges to chase Frisbees, sniff butts, hump goats and, er, mark his territory. Some of this is occasionally funny. Better laughs come from a string of unrelated jokes (e.g., Schneider has a black buddy who is fed up with getting special treatment from anxious and politically correct white folks). If Schneider (who co-wrote the script) and director Luke Greenfield had aimed a little higher than just piling skit-caliber material onto a gimmicky framework, there might have been a silk purse to be had from this sow's ear. Not a necessary purchase. (R. Blackwelder)